Transcript of Press Conference on 100-Meter Run-Off

Jul 1, 2012

Shortly after 2 p.m. Pacific time today, Jill Geer, USATF spokesperson, held a press conference to announce that Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh would meet in a run-off on Monday to determine the final spot on the U.S. women’s 100-meter team.Here are excerpts from the news conference.OPENING STATEMENT from Jill Geer: Thank you for joining us on such short notice. The tiebreaker in the women’s 100-meter will be broken via a runoff at 5 p.m. Pacific time at Hayward Field tomorrow. That decision was reached moments ago in a meeting between the athletes, USA Track and Field F officials, the athletes’ coach and their representatives.WILL IT BE TELEVISED?
Jill Geer: Yes.LIVE?
Yes. NBC has a live window within USA Swimming. The swimming trials are at that time and we will be part of the broadcast.WILL IT BE FREE [AT HAYWARD FIELD]?
I believe it is free but I will check that.NBC WAS REPORTING THIS NEWS MINUTES AGO...
The meeting was at the Hilton and I was told that several newspeople were there. Not just NBC.DO YOU KNOW THE LANE ASSIGNMENTS?
No, I don’t. This decision was just reached. The first person who crosses the line makes the team. If it is a dead heat, it will be a coin toss at that point.CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE MEETING?
I was not in the meeting. I was here to ensure that we notified everyone simultaneously. The meeting took about two hours. We did speak with the athletes and their coach and their representatives last night and then resumed this morning to finalize everything.WHO WERE THE REPRESENTATIVES?
The athletes’ representatives are Kimberly Holland, Wes Felix. The USATF’s representatives were Stephanie Hightower, Max Siegel. Also there were Jackie Joyner Keersee and Bobby Kersee.WAS THE COIN FLIP EVEN DISCUSSED?
It was always a possibility. Really, the coin toss was just in case neither athlete really wanted to make a decision. We fully expected that the tie would be broken either by run-off or one of the athletes was not going to pursue the 100. No one thought it was going to end in a coin toss. In the future we don’t anticipate a coin toss as an option.WHEN WAS IT DECIDED WHEN THE RUN-OFF WOULD BE?
I wasn’t in the room. The only thing worst than a run-off is having one of your staathletes get injured. That would have been a worst-case scenario. We had to consult with the athletes, their coaches, their representatives and not put them at risk while getting a resolution.YOU SAID LAST WEEK IT WOULD ALL BE DONE BY SUNDAY NIGHT [TONIGHT]. WHEN DID THAT CHANGE?
Sunday night was always our intention. We have two athletes running their six rounds and Allyson ran a 21.69 [yesterday in the 200 meters]. It takes a toll on the body. You have to be practical. Ideally it would have been today. We are submitting our roster tomorrow as it has always been planned.REPORTEDLY BOBBY KERSEE WAS SAYING NO RUN-OFF BEFORE TUESDAY. WHAT ABOUT THAT? DO THE NBC SWIM TRIALS EXTEND TO TUESDAY?
I don’t know how long the swimming lasts. NBC’s considerations were not part of our considerations. The considerations were the health of the athletes, getting our team named in an appropriate timeline, and getting the strongest team. You would have to ask Bobby about his timeline. It is my understanding from the people who have spoken to Bobby his strong preference was Tuesday, but Monday provided a 48-hour rest window for athletes.HOW ABOUT LAST NIGHT’S MEETING. HOW LONG?
Last night was more of a series of conversations that started after the race had finished and continued back at the hotel.COULD YOU CHARACTERIZE THOSE DISCUSSIONS?
It was mostly to set up the time to meet today. The athletes had to figure out how they felt physically. They needed a night to sleep to see how their bodies felt. And emotionally. It was an emotional race for both of them. Rather than to force someone into a decision, we wanted to be practical and reasonable, and making a decision today is just as effective.NEITHER WOMAN SURRENDERED. HOW MUCH WAS THAT DISCUSSED?
I don’t know. I would suspect if one of the women was going to surrender, it would have been a much shorter meeting.

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